Highway pilot



. y 1937. L. c. NODERER 2,079,260

HIGHWAY PILOT Filed Oct. 12, 1955 IN VENTOR.

a 0 LEEC. NODERER A90 B 5 Y ATTORAIIE mm i, we?

. NITED STATES OFFICE 10 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in highway markers for indicating trafilc lanes.

When applied to modern highway travel, the terms visibility and safety are almost synonymous. In recognition of this principle, engineers spare no expense in providing signs, signals, white lines, lights, white guard rails and many other devices for visibility and safety.

Even with modern safety engineered highways,

, three problems, due to lack of good visibility, confront the automobile driver.

First. How to remedy. the blinding efiects caused by the lights of approaching cars,

Second. To provide a cure for inability to see the road due to darkness, dust, fog, inclement weather or smoke, I

Third. To remedy inability to see the road ahead of the normal effective range of the headlights and consequent uncertainty as to possible curves, dips or crests which may conceal danger.

It is the purpose and paramount object of this invention to contribute in an improved way to the further alleviation of. the three above mentioned problems, as follows:

First. To so mark the highway or trafiic lanes that they will be more clearly visible above the glare of approaching lights, a

Second. In darkness, dust, inclement weather, fog and smoke, to more effectively extend visibility by means of an improved illuminating means, 1

Third. To more efiectively indicate by use of an improve'dmarke'r or illuminator, curves, dips or crests, beyond the normal range of headlights,

' which may obscure approaching vehicles or other means 'engageable with theexpansion' joints of the pavement to prevent dislodgment of. the

marking o'rilluminating means and animproved; locking'arra'ngement for holding allthe parts ofsaid means, whenassembled, against misalign ment. m

Still further objects of an ancillary character space, thereby offering less impact to tires; (1)) To hold glass reflector buttons in position more portion of the pilot.

((1) To make markers smaller,;occupying less efiectively; and (c) To secure reflector buttons against damage.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawing, showing preferred and alternate embodiments of the invention as now reduced to practice,

Fig. 1 is an assembled perspective showing of a highway pilot embodying my invention, the attaching means being broken in order to fore shorten the view.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the device provided bythis invention showing various parts in a spaced relation to each other.

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the reflector per Fig. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a modified form of my invention and showing the parts in a spaced relation.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation, partly in section an broken to shorten the view, of the highway pilot with a lag screw shown extending thru the assembled parts and showing a further modification of the invention.

Fig.7 is a section taken thru the assembled parts illustrating a still further modification; one in which the internal locking parts and external ground cleats are omitted.

' Broadly speaking the invention consists of a highway pilot comprising a pair of interlockable overlapping disks provided with matchable half sockets for housing reflector buttons and with dual means for preventing misalignment, one of said dual means consisting of cleats integral with one of said disks, and the other of said dual means, consisting of a pin engageable. with both the disks and the roadbed. The device is designed for installation at intervals and in alignment on the highway and parallel to its edges in such a manner as to present to the motorist the appearance of a row of lights as he looks ahead.

Referring in detail to. the several-views, and firstlimiting consideration more particularly to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the numeral 8 indicates a ground disk having cleats 9 embeddable within the expansion joints of the pavement. I'll is a superimposed mating disk which cooperates with the ground disk to form the main body of the visible In disk 8 are formed a plurality of radially extending half sockets ll, l2, l3, and l4, and in disk Ill are formed a like number of half sockets two of which are indi- -former is impacted by a tire.

form whole sockets for the reception of the reflecting element l1, perspectively shown, per se, in Fig. 4. Each of said half sockets is provided with an externally contracted hemispherical wall l8 which cooperates with its fellow in order that when the disks are mated a circular opening will be formed in the periphery of the marker thru which the globular part IQ of the reflector visibly extends. Said part I9, when contacted with rays of light from an automobile lamp, reflects the rays thereby defining the location of the pilot's position in the roadway whereby the driver is enabled properly to steer his car.

The ground disk 8 is provided with a locking lug 20 and a locking lug socket 2i, and the cooperating disk ID is provided with a socket to engage the lug 20 and a lug to engage within the locking lug socket 2|. Each of said locking lugs, when brought into cooperating engagement by mating with the respective sockets provided for them, properly aligns the half sockets in registry with each other. The nature of the socket and lug in the disk In may be comprehended with ease by glancing at the top part thereof shown in Fig. 5.

The disks 8 and ID are provided with central- 1y located openings 22 and 23 of a square character though not necessarily limited to such square opening, as will be fully hereinafter explained, thru which extends thespike 24 for securing the assembled parts to the highway.

Cleat 9, when embedded in the expansion joint of the highway, maintains proper rotary position of the reflector. Lug 20, when engaged within its cooperative socket, maintains proper registry of the half sockets. It also prevents a twisting dislodgment of the disk ID from disk 8 when the Spike 24, in addition to securing the disks to the roadway, also tends to aid in maintaining alignment of the reflectors as well as guarding against rotary'dislodgment of the disks. Cleat 9 also strengthens the wall of the disk adjacent the half sockets when an expansion joint parallels the reflecting elements. Disk I0 is also provided with a receptacle 25 into which the tapered head 26 of the spike is seated when it is driven home as shown in Fig. 1. This construction produces less wear on tires when impacted thereby.

The alternate form shown in Fig. 5 differs from the form just disclosed only in the location of the cleat 9a and the .number of half sockets employed and the location of the locking lugs. The remaining structures are identical, the description of the form shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 being directable also to the form shown in Fig. 5. No further description will be added except to say lug 2lb and lug socket 20b are definitely located in the figure and the half sockets II b and I3?) are fully shown. The similarity of parts may be distinguished as they are designated with the same numerical indicia with alphabetical letters affixed thereto. The type of pilot last described is particularly adapted for installation on highways where the expansion joint runs athwart the roadbed.

The species shown in Fig. 6 differs from that disclosed in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 only in the number of half sockets shown, the location of the locking lugs and the employment of a-lag screw 240 instead of a square spike. Here again distinguish-' ing sub-characters are assigned to all the parts described, in this instance the sub-letter c being used. In this modification, the cleat 8c secures and aligns the part 80 with the roadway. The

lugs and cooperative sockets, maintain registry of parts. The alignment and dislodgment having been taken care of, it is obvious a lag screw may be employed when the roadbed warrants.

The species shown in Fig. 7 differs from the others in that all cleats and locking lugs are eliminated, the parts lfld and 8d are identical and only the square spike is relied upon to maintain alignment of the pilot with the highway as well as to obtain the registry of one disk with the other. This type of pilot is particularly well adapted for use on highways where there are no longitudinal or transverse seams or joints. In this view the sub-character d is employed in connection with the basic numeral to further distinguish the parts.

In the several species the common reflector unit I! is employed for reflecting light to pilot the automobile driver. These reflectors are adapted to reflect about seventy per cent of the light reaching them and are designed to resist breakage. They seldom if ever have to be changed because they are sealed between the two disks with a special cement. They provide a choice of colors whereby particular highway traffic lanes and traffic zones may be coded and standardized for day travel as well as night travel, the advantages of which will be obvious.

The reflector unit l'l, shown separately in Fig. 4, comprises a cylindrical body portion 30 having at its front end a rounded forwardly projecting part is located axially thereof, and desirably integral therewith. The base portion of said part I9 is surrounded by a circular shoulder which cooperates with the annular flange l8 afforded by the mounting means. The body portion 30 is housed in the sockets completed by pairing the half sockets in each disk and the annular flange l8 provides a diametrically reduced circular opening thru which the convex lens portion or rounded part l9 extends and against which said shoulder abuts. When the reflector is properly cemented in its socket the cement in addition to holding the reflector in place provides a cushion for the glass. The cement is designed to be water and acid proof, heat and cold proof under service conditions. It is quick setting, easy to apply and may be procured at a low cost.

The reflector is provided with a cavity 32 to provide a receptacle for housing the reflecting substance 33, and the receptacle is capped with a cork tip 34 to seal the rear end of the cylindrical body.

It should be understood that, although the present disclosure is based on preferred modifications, it is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all other modiflcations and equivalents which fall within the scope of the subject matter claimed.

I claim:

1. In a highway marker, two dis of substantially identical size and shape, each of said disks having a plurality of peripherally spaced radial semi-cylindrical half sockets with contracted outer end portions in one face thereof, the greatest width of each socket being at the face of the disk, means securing said disks together in such a manner that each half socket of one disk combines with a corresponding half socket of the other to form a whole socket having a contracted mouth which opens out radially thru the peripheral portion of the combined disks, a reflector fitted within each whole socket thus formed, said reflector having a cylindrical body portion from the outer end of which axial hr projects a convex lens portion, the base of said lens portion beingof materially less diameter than the cylindrical portion of said reflector, thus forming an annular shoulder around the base of the lens, said lens portion fitting within and projecting outwardly from said mouth, and a filling occupying the space around said lens portion between said shoulder and the inner side of said mouth.

2. A highway marker, comprising a pair of matchable disks, mated half sockets formed in the abutting faces of said disks and opening through the periphery of the marker, means noncircular in cross section extending thru said disks cooperatively fastening them together and securing the combination to a highway whereby said mated half sockets form whole sockets and said disks are restrained from becoming mis-matched when contacted by automobile tires in their rotary movement thereover, and reflecting means housed in the whole sockets thus formed by the mating of said half sockets, said reflecting means being positioned to intercept and reflect light entering the combined disks through said whole sockets, the reflected light emerging thru said whole sockets.

3. A highway marker comprising av pair of circular plates, each of said plates having a face with a recess therein opening through the periphery thereof, the peripheral portion of said recess being contracted, means securing said plates together face to face in such relative positions that the said recess of one plate cooperates with that of the other to jointly form between them a socket which has a contracted mouth that opens out through the periphery of the marker, said securing means being adapted to secure the marker to a roadbed, and a reflector within said socket positioned to reflect light through said mouth, said reflector having an annular shoulder therearound, there being an internal annular shoulder'in said mouth to cooperate with the shoulder of said reflector to hold said reflector in its operative position.

4. A highway marker including two disks each having a half socket which opens out thru its periphery, a spike passing centrally thru said disks and uniting them in such an abutting manner that said half sockets are alined and are combined to form a whole socket opening out peripherally from the united disks, and light reflecting means within said whole socket and adapted to reflect light radially awayfrom said disks.

5. In a highway marker, two cooperating plates, means securing said plates horizontally together and to a roadbed in a superimposed which a part of said reflector projects beyond the mouth of said socket, said projecting part being sheltered from direct contact with vehicle tires by a peripheral angular shoulder of the ,plate thereabove. v 7. A highway marker comprising a pair ofdisks, means common to said disks for fastening them together, and the disks thus combined to a highway, means interlocking said disks against relative rotative displacement, cleats on the bottom disk adapted to engage the expansion joint of a highway to prevent rotative displacement of said bottom disk, recesses formed in the adjacent faces of said'disks and opening through the periphery of the marker adapted' to be brought into registry when said disks are properly matched, and reflecting means housed in the sockets formed by said registering recesses,

said reflecting means being positioned to receive and reflect light through said sockets.

8. As an article of manufacture, a reflector unit comprising a cylindrical solid body, made of light transmitting material, having a cavity in one end thereof, and a lens integral with said bodyat its other end, reflecting material filling said cavity, and a cap sealing said reflect-k ing material within said body. I

9. A highway marker including two disks each having a half socket which consists of a radial semi-cylindrical concavity which extends into the face of the disk and an end portion of which opens out through the periphery of the disk, a spike passing centrally through said disks and uniting them in such an abutting manner that said half sockets are alined. and are combined to form a whole socket opening out peripherally from the united disks, and light reflecting means within said whole socket and adapted to reflect light radially away from said disks.

10. The highway marker'deflned in claim 9, in which said united disks have interlocking portions adapted to keep them from relative rotational displacement.

LEE C. NODERER. 

